Head of former GDR foreign intelligence: Unipolar world is dangerous

Marcus Wolf, the head of the foreign intelligence in the former German Democratic Republic, believes that the unipolar world that appeared after the September 11, 2001 terrorist acts in the USA is dangerous. He said this at the presentation of his new book in Moscow on Monday.

The most famous intelligence expert in today's Germany does not share the political optimism of those who believe that the political effect of the American tragedy was rather positive.

"After September 11th the world became unilateral, meaning that one state now achieves its goals by any means," the former intelligence officer believes. The center of these power politics is now the Middle East, he said.

Marcus Wolf expressed his surprise that the US special services had allowed "September 2001 to happen". The US intelligence had "good connections" with Al Qaida leaders ever since the Soviet Army's presence in Afghanistan in the 1980s, he emphasized.

Wolf again denied the statements that the intelligence of the former GDR trained terrorists, including Palestinians. The Security Ministry of East Germany maintained contacts with Palestinian intelligence and taught basics of conspiracy and "basic military skills" to its servicemen, but "terrorism was out of the question", he said.

In a conversation with a RIA Novosti correspondent Wolf drew a parallel between the East German special services' contacts with Palestinians and the US special services' connections with Islamic fundamentalists. The Americans "could not and did not consider it necessary to" keep Al Qaida terrorists under control when the Soviet Army left Afghanistan, he pointed out.